Hoyer Delivers Remarks at Collective Empowerment Group's Annual Empowerment Conference

LANDOVER, MD – This morning, Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-5) delivered remarks at the Collective Empowerment Group's Annual Empowerment Conference breakfast entitled, "Plugged In: Make the Connection with Information through Education." The Collective Empowerment Group brings together Prince George's County and Washington, D.C. area pastors and church members to focus on financial literacy, education, healthcare, homeownership preservation, public safety and public policy. Later in the day, participants will attend a variety of seminars on grant writing, business development, tax compliance, community development, health, and other topics. Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery:

"Matthew, 4:18-19, reads:

"And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishermen.

"And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.'

"Fishers of men. Like Jesus' first disciples, today's ministers are ‘fishers of men.'

"In the seas of poverty, want, and despair, you cast lines of empowerment, fulfillment, and hope.

"The work you are doing in your churches and neighborhoods has been critical to our common effort to improve lives throughout Prince George's County, to promote greater financial independence, and to strengthen families and communities.

"From feeding the hungry to sheltering the homeless, from helping parishioners take out loans to teaching young people how to balance a checkbook – the actions you undertake and inspire are transforming our county for the better.

"Together with the work of the Baker administration, of state officials, and of our Maryland Delegation in Congress, your programs are making a huge difference.

"By empowering individuals and families through faith, hope, and learning, you are proving the ancient adage that giving a man a fish feeds him for a day, but teaching him to fish feeds him for life.

"This is true in particular when it comes to education.

"Frederick Douglass, a great Marylander, once said: ‘It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.'

"Remembering this, let us all strive to be ‘fishers of men' in our own right by seeking out those who are at risk, in despair, or in need of a helping hand – and casting them our lines, lifting them up from those dark waters, and empowering them to seize every opportunity to make a better life for themselves and the communities of which they are a part.

"Thank you."